Senior 15

    Throughout my seventeen years of living I have learned quantities of lessons. Each of these lessons have truly shaped me into the person I am today. Being the daughter of first generation immigrant parents taught me the struggles that transpire in life. College was always an exception set for me by my parents. They want me to continue what they were forced to stop.

     From a young age I gained the understanding of responsibility due to the fact of having both of my parents working. This left me with three brothers to take care of. Having this responsibility taken on me from that age gave me a sense of leadership. All the weight of taking care of the household was placed on my shoulders, forcing me to grow up fast and stripped me away from my childhood. No doubt about it, I am very grateful that life exposed me to this type of authority. It allowed me to become enchanted with helping the younger generation. I’m confident that setting a righteous example to the youth will give them the opportunity to become leaders themselves. Growing up I attended a private school that failed to demonstrate the importance of exemplifying themselves as good role models to children. Due to that reason, I’m constantly volunteering at that school, assembling activities, and helping with tutoring.  My parents struggled with learning English, I played a major role in teaching them and strengthening their ability to speak the language. This inspired me to tutor immigrant children at that school and motivate them to speak English confidently.  

     Growing up watching my parents struggle to provide for us made me more passionate about completing my education. I’ve always intended and desired to go to college. After seeing what they went through to keep themselves on their feet and ensure us a good life, motivated me to become my very best. Families overseas struggle with oral hygiene due to poverty. I made it my mission to pursue the field of Dentistry and to go back home to help out people in need. Smiles radiate happiness and innocence, it’s my dream to see the people of my native land gain back their confidence through a new smile. From the age of two to the age of ten I lived in Zambia. My memories of that wonderful country are blurry. Despite the fact that my family and I lived in hardship and deprivation there, one thing stuck with me, the kindness of its native people. A great aspiration of mine is to go back there someday and donate a large portion of my earnings to families and schools. 

     My dad never had a stable job. He went into college to study dentistry but his dreams were cut short due to the fact that my grandfather fell ill. This caused him to leave college and move from Qatar to Zambia to take care of my grandfather. Growing up my dad never had a stable job. Even until now his work forces him to leave for weeks on end. My mom works as an Arabic teacher and earns little to nothing for how much hard work she puts in. Due to religious reasons we aren’t allowed to take out loans. One of my brothers is attending college while working back to back and is paying out of pocket because of this. I do not have the ability to get a job to help pay for my college tuition because there will be no one to look after my two younger brothers. If I earn this scholarship I will be able to take a huge toll off my parents shoulders and continue what they were forced to stop.